Introduction: Different blood meal sources can affect biology of triatomines. Methods: We studied the influence of two different blood meal sources (rabbits and hens) on five biological parameters in Meccus phyllosomus pallidipennis and collected biological parameters. Results: The cohort fed on rabbits had a shorter median life-cycle and lower mortality rate than that fed on hens. Both cohorts required a similar number of blood meals to reach adulthood. Median longevity and number of blood meals for adults were similar between both cohorts. Conclusions: The studied parameters reflect the high grade of adaptation of M. p. pallidipennis feeding on different hosts.

Chagas disease is one of the most important vector-borne diseases in Latin America, including Mexico. Recently, autochthonous cases have also been detected in the United States of America. It is suspected that two subspecies of Triatoma rubida (Uhler), T. r. sonoriana (Usinger) and T. r. uhleri (Usinger), considered efficient vectors of Trypanosoma cruzi Chagas in Mexico, could interbreed and potentially generate offspring with superior biological characteristics. In this study, the biological parameters of T. r. sonoriana, T. r. uhleri and their laboratory hybrids were evaluated. Hybrids of the two subspecies surpassed both parental subspecies, T. r. sonoriana and T. r. uhleri, in three (numbers of required blood meals to molt [16–20], feeding [10.5–17 min] and defecation times [˂1 min post-feeding]) of nine studied biological parameters. Moreover, the hybrids surpassed T. r. uhleri in two additional parameters, development time (298 d) and mortality (39–42%). Both the hybrid and the two parental cohorts had comparable results in the remaining four (onset of feeding, number of obtained females, number of eggs laid, and eclosion rate) of nine studied parameters. Thus, we conclude that hybrid vigor could result in an increased risk of T. cruzi transmission to humans and animals.